arms agreement. the united nations has approved the first international treaty to regulate conventional weapons. delegates have approved trade for conventional arms. it capped a campaign that has lasted for years. pr proponents fighting to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and people who abuse human rights. 154 delegations including the

u.s. and the biggest experter of arms. north korea, iran and syria voted against. russia, china and 21 other nations abstained. the treaty bans transfers of weapons if they violate u.n. arms embark goes or promote acts of the men no side, crimes against humanity or war crimes. the treaty requires member states to submit arms trade records to the united nations every year. >> translator: what's significant here is they recognize the need to be transparent and accountable in regulating international trade and arms. those weapons are related to a lot of crimes in many countries. >> it's estimated conventional weapons kill half a million civilians every year. the treaty will take effect after 50 countries ratify it.

a lot will depend on which nations ratify it. chinese health authorities have announced that four more people have been infected with a new strain of the avian flu virus. this races the total of known cases to seven. health officials say that the four are from an area near shanghai. they complained of flu and coughing in mid march. tests confirm they contracted the h 7 n 9 virus strain. all are in critical condition and receiving emergency treatment. one woman is described as a poultry butcher. no cases of the virus have been reported among those in close contact with the four patients. hospital authorities say they'll be on the lookout for cases of pneumonia with no clear causes and unusual symptoms. the first humans infected with this strain were identified last month. the virus killed two in shanghai

and sickened one person. chinese government officials say they're analyzing how the virus spread, how toxic it is, and how easily it might infect humans. japanese researchers say the new avian flu requires has mutated genes. this allows the virus to infect humans more easily. experts at the institute for infectious diseases examined the gene sequences for the h 7 and 9 virus. two men and one woman were infected. researchers found a certain gene in all three samples had mutated. they say the virus may have spread a wide distance. he says it's not considered very toxic but only a few people are immune to the virus and if people are infected, it could cause serious symptoms and following whether it is

spreeding human to human. leaders in beijing heard threat after threat in recent weeks and warn they're ready to attack targets in south korea and the u.s. they're working on shoring up the economy. >> translator: china's trade in north and south korea has substantially increased despite the economic slowdown last year. the two careers want to develop amicable relationship with china. >> he said many north and south korean firms have signed up for an international trade fair in september. it will be held in the northeastern province. china has provided diplomatic support to north korea for years but the chinese delegation support a u.n. security council resolution imposing sanctions after the north koreans carried out another nuclear test in february.

chinese officials are getting help from japan to clear up a long running problem. they're in tokyo to discuss the best way to deal with severe air pollution. efforts are under way to tighten domestic environmental regulations. the laws are relaxed compared to those in industrialized countries. the japan cooperational agency is hosting a visit from china's people's congress and environmental protection. the officials are learning about strict environmental controls based on the japanese model. one official said the challenge is to promote environmental growth and environmental protection at the same time. >> translator: i hope i will be able to learn from japanese knowledge about environmental protection at this program. >> participants will learn about the legal accountability of central and municipal governments. they'll also study the penalties imposed on businesses that discharge pollutants. they'll visit factories with

advanced environmental technology and meet with ng o's working to protect the environment. investors are drumming their fingers wondering what the bank of japan will come up with next. members of the central bank want to jump-start the economy but they haven't come up with measures that pack enough punch. joining us now from the business desk, ai, why would investors expect anything different this time? >> because there is a new governor in charge who's actually known for being an advocate of aggressive monetary easing and why investors think things might be different this

time around. bank of japan policymakers are getting together for their first meeting under the new governor. they're trying to work out a mechanism for achieving a 2% inflation target. he has pledged to achieve the target in about two years in response to a call for an end to the prolonged deflation. the policymakers are expected to step up their monetary easing by buying longer government bonds and they currently buy bonds that mature in three years or less. policymakers will also consider buying more risky assets such as exchange treated funds. these have stocks included as well. the policy board will try to make bond buying programs more transparent to bond buying participants by integrating two separate programs into one. they will also likely review their self-imposed rules for shouldering government debts. the two-day meeting will continue until thursday when the

governor will have a news conference. over an wall street the dow jones industrial average and s&p 500 both hit record highs on tuesday. the dow closed at 14,662, up 89 points or .6 of a percent. meanwhile, the s&p closed at 1,570, up more than half a percent. for more on how stocks are trading here, let's go to the tokyo stock exchange. we have the factory orders data in the u.s. supporting sentiment. are we seeing more optimism here in tokyo? >> yes, we are. i'll come to the levels in just a second. the markets in the major european index got a boost after the u.s. data and investor sentiment was lifting after news of cypres cyprus concluding a b deal. let's look at the markets this april 3rd and both index is in

the positive and well above that 12,000 level on the nikkei. topics just below that thousand level and see if we can get above that. yesterday, we did see the nikkei fall 1% after plummeting 300 points at one stage but managed to close above 12,000. the move yesterday looked like a correction of sorts, markets taking the position of the government and bank of japan on what needs to be done to battle deflation and achieve that 2% n inflation goal as well. and markets and investors looking for further news or action. we'll see as the bank of japan meet meeting ends on thursday. ai. >> i guess they're looking for something they can sink their teeth into. tell us about the yen. we have seen it weaken a touch against the dollar ahead of that boj meeting. where do we stand right now? >>, of course. a lot of movement and a big

focus for investors. dollar/yen, 93.39-40 and the yen has weakened a touch factory owners rose 3% in march boosting the dollar and slight ly the weak weakening we heard about on monday and let's not forget about the u.s. job numbers on friday. to the euro/yen. it lost a little bit on employment and manufacturing data. right now 119.70-75. with the economic indicators they're shifting focus to the policy meeting on thursday. and we will get some information from orders and honda saw big gains in the u.s., up 7.1% for honda and key track of that sector including exporters,

financial sectors and real estate sectors that really move on monetary policy measures. we'll keep track of all of that. for now, back to you. >> thanks. from the tokyo stock exchange. world bank president jim yun kim wants to put an end to poverty. >> the economies of the developing world are expected to expand by 5.5% this year. we forecast growth will further accelerate to 5.7% and 5.8% in 2014 and 20$2015 respectively. >> in washington, kim said about 20% of the world's population now lives below the poverty line earning up to $1.25 a day. he said the world bank wants to cut this late to less than 3% by 2030. kim said the bank will allocate loans to projects that lead to job creation in developing

countries. here in japan the nikkei is up 1.6%. here's a check on other markets. a series of sex attacks on local and foreign women in india is taking a toll on the country's tourism. the incredible india advertising

campaign presents a destination for tourists but the numbers have slumped since a highly pub decides rape in december. it has fallen 25% in the past quarter compared with the same period last year. the sharpest drop was seen in the number of female tourists which decreased 35%. the study was conducteded by the associated chambers of commerce and industry of india. following a widely reported gang rape on a university student at least two attacks on foreign tourists have been reported. the government have made efforts on stronger rape laws but the out-cry is affecting them. and the survey results come as a blow to india where the tourism industry is a key earner in a

period of lagging economic growth. one of the most celebrated images in art history is reaching a new audience. this is a reproduction of monk's screen. a japanese scup tour made it for people who are visually impaired. he hopes that it will help. >> reporter: this sight impaired woman touches a painting by leonardo da vinci. she had known about the painting but she's surprised by the detail. >> translator: the fingers on the right hand, the thumb, the index finger and the middle finger. >> translator: it's just the upper body? >> translator: that's right. >> translator: how interesting. i could tell that she has a full forehead. based on this relief, i was able to imagine what her personality

was like. >> reporter: until now, the only way to help the blind visualize art was to describe how it looked. by tracing the relief image, the visually impaired can appreciate the original. this sculptor makes the 3d like witnesses. likenesses. it's quite a change from his usual work. for the past 35 years, he has been make being decorations for commercial spaces and creating outdoor sculptures. two years ago, he heard that schools had few suitable art textbooks for the blind. so he volunteered to make reliefs of famous paintings. >> translator: i think lots of visually impaired people are interested in art. >> reporter: he began by figuring out how to make famous

works come alive off a flat surface. >> translator: how to express the sorrowful expression in her eye eyes with the shape or the way it curves. >> reporter: he makes a plaster model using a special machine. it senses the painting's contours and converts them into a mold. the result is a resin plank with a 3d copy of the mona lisa. he presses a thick piece of paper onto the plank. the relief is complete. his work combines creativity and mechanical precision. it takes about a week to complete the process. he has recreated more than 20 masterpieces. japan braille library used several in its art book.

entitled "art to touch master pieces of western art" it includes a braille commentary. the collection has been distributed free to schools for the blind. it's also been displayed across the country. visually impaired people are grateful to have seen these works for the first time. >> translator: i'm so thrilled that people can experience and understand the works, simply by touching them. >> reporter: he displayed about 120 pieces in tokyo. he exaggerated the colors, so people with weak eyesight could also enjoy them. touching the works was encouraged. >> translator: can you feel that? this is the nose. here's some curly hair. >> translator: this is a ground breaking experiment. i've never had the opportunity

to study famous pieces of art and understand them like this. >> translator: a lot of people have voiced their support. i'd like to run this program all over japan. and if the opportunity arises, i'd like to take it abroad. >> reporter: through his efforts, he has opened the curtains on a world that had never been available to visually impaired people. paris has its opera house. new york has its carnegie hall and tokyo has a newly rebuilt landmark theater that had its opening on tuesday. foreign fans of this traditional art along with japanese follo r followers are watching to see what new culture will be rewritten. nhk reports.

>> reporter: the sounds of drums welcomed back fans to kabuki's traditional home. followers of the centuries-old art beat a path to the door. >> translator: it's a once-in-a-lifetime event, so i'm so glad to be here. >> reporter: workers first built this theater more than a century ago. crews have rebuilt it several times after a fire in 1921, after bombing during the second world war, and again four years ago when they decided it needed another makeover. architects set the kabukiza within a structure that rises 29 stories above ground with 4 levels below. offices and stores surround a theater that seats more than 1,800 people. technicians upgraded the sound system. and they installed screens that

display the actors' lines in japanese or in english. producers hope the upgrades will draw a new generation to the theater. fans of kabuki have been looking forward to this day for years. the weather didn't help. still, people started lining up as early as 3:00 in the morning to be among the first to get inside. the lucky ones got tickets for the opening performance. >> we're here to discover kabuki we didn't know before. >> reporter: some of kabuki's greatest names won't get the chance to perform here. a number of actors died during the renovations, including three named national living treasures. nakamura kanzaburo challenged the establishment and developed a new style of performance. ichikawa danjuro brought kabuki to foreign audiences. in 2007, he won france's highest cultural award.

>> translator: we've experienced great losses over the last year. i'm here with my sincere condolences, but at the same time, i expect the younger kabuki actors to carry on with the spirit of their predecessors. >> reporter: young actors and veterans will perform in the first shows which will run for the next year. theirs is an old art. they say now they set the stage for a new chapter in their history. kaho izumitani, nhk world, tokyo. time now get a check on the weather. people in europe are in their spring season but folks in the wintry parts are still dealing with wintry conditions. ma shoji shows us more.

>> it includes more than half of europe and northern balkans, too and heavy snow and i will show you a video from croatia. spring officially started last months but snow still grips part of grand preurope. people are tired of snow in their highways and driveways. most are expecting rain rather than snow with colder than average temperatures wednesday. but looks like we can probably see a similar picture across northern balkans. that includes some areas of croatia as well as poland. this system towards the south, due to the warm and humid airflowing from north africa is colliding with the cold arctic air bringing severe conditions that includes hail and gusts, and damage iing levels with thunderstorms, too. another atlantic system will be moving in covering these areas. you can see how slow that is and

the rain will start accumulating and lingering a while upping the risk of flooding. madrid at 17 degrees, rome at 17, athens, not bad towards the south. take a look, much of the north, most of them are in single digits. berlin, 4 degrees for the high on wednesday but your low around minus 3 degrees. moving to north africa the typical april pattern in the gulf states. this will bring serious effects. some people in the residential areas are aware of the typical changing types including thunderstorms, gale and tornadoes and not too typical of snow accumulating 5 centimeters in oklahoma, texas and the panhandle. a look at your temperatures, new york at 8 degrees, oklahoma city down to 7 degrees hence the snow

you may be finding and houston at 23. moving over to japan now where we have been feeling wet and windy weather here in tokyo as well. one system will pull away but another rain band forming across central japan and includes the contour region as well where we will probably see heavy rain arou around afternoon hours. you can see it finally clearing way. the gusts are still strong so do be aware of that 126 kilometers miles an hour gusts still capable of being unleashed and 6 meter high waves on the pacific side. across southeastern china, rain still lingering there. we really don't want rain there. the soil can't take any more water and landslides at high risk across the regions. you can still see the rain lingering there. towards the north, things are in the early spring-like

temperatures, tokyo up to 20 degrees starting tomorrow and taipei looking at 28 degrees, well above your average as well as seoul nice and warm friday for you. here's our extended forecast.

one more story before we go. a design japan is expecting big things from one of its main attractions. it held a ritual to pray for a smooth birth for its 22-year-old asian elephant. the elephant at the zoo near

tokyo is expecting her second calf in september. she gave birth to her first six years ago. after she shintao priest s over the elephant, they put sheets on her and this means easy birth. they say the cast practiced writing the characters for a wee week. >> translator: i'm happy. >> translator: i hope she will give birth to a cute baby. >> reporter: a zoo spokesperson says the unborn baby weighs about 40 kilograms. that's expected to increase to almost 100 kilograms by birth. it would be the seventh baby of an asian elephant born in japan. that wraps up this edition of "newsline." i'm catherine one one in tokyo.

thanks for inning us. in tokyo. thanks for inning us. >> ted kooser was an insurance man for 35 years before he became poet laureate of the united states. he lives with his wife and two dogs near the town of garland, nebraska, where he writes about life on the great plains.

>> here, on fine long legs springy as steel a life rides, sealed in a small brown pill that skims along over the basement floor wrapped up in a simple obsession. eight legs reach out like the master ribs of a web in which some thought is caught dead center in its own small world, a thought so far from the touch of things that we can only guess at it. if mine, it would be the secret dream of walking alone across the floor of my life with an easy grace, and with love enough to live on at the center of myself. ( applause )